"Hide behind the shield and don't come out." Henry, who could see all the positions of the 16 mounted warriors in an instant, made everyone, including Mira, huddle behind the big shield in Galeva's hand, and then he raised his hand to command. They turned their backs against the wall of the shrine to achieve an angle that would protect them from shooting.
"Crack--!" "Boom! Wow!" The huge bow and arrow flew with great force and hit the temporary wooden shield with great force. Green Kaleva was stunned because he didn't know how to maintain it. Because of his slow posture, he was frightened by an arrow and the whole shield tilted. The warriors not far away immediately seized this opportunity and fired two arrows at the legs of the young porter that were exposed due to the tilt of the shield.
"Qiang——!" Fortunately, the sage knocked away two arrows with one sword, and Mila glared at Galeva with dissatisfaction: "Put your shoulders on it, you idiot!" She shouted loudly, but the young man was just about to throw it away. When he leaned his shoulder towards her, he was pushed by Ling on the side.
"Be careful." Dr. Xingyong said this. Galeva looked back and realized that the makeshift but thick enough shield had actually been penetrated by the bow and arrow just now.
"This power is comparable to an armor-piercing crossbow." Mira took a breath, and then shouted to Henry: "Teacher! It won't last long."
She said this, while the sage stood outside and lowered his head to Claymore: "I know."
"Sankai Sulu (disperse)——!" The leading warrior with buffalo horns on his helmet waved his hand, while the warriors under him held bows in both hands and did not use the reins. They just held the bows under them with their legs. The war horses flexibly commanded them to run. Mira looked worriedly at the little unicorn that she had called to hide in the distant forest after the initial encounter. Fortunately and unfortunately, they didn't pay any attention to it at all.
They quickly divided into three teams around the shrine, one in the front and the other two in semicircular formations from both sides.
These people did not attack the sage who stood in the front without fear, was tall and strong, and showed extraordinary skills to easily cut down two bow arrows - but this was not a slight contempt for others. On the contrary, it was precisely because the sage showed enough threat that these people did not approach and planned to use bows to solve them.
Moreover, they are also targeting weaker people instead of sages. This approach is obviously intended to catch them all.
If the strongest person draws all the firepower, the others can take the opportunity to escape.
But he chose to attack the weak first, deal with them and then come back to deal with Henry. If he was alone, no matter how strong he was, it would only be a matter of a few arrows to distance him.
- These people are experts.
He is well-trained, moves quickly, and knows priorities.
They did not approach rashly. Although they had the overwhelming combat advantage of a Moon Country-style squadron of 16 fully armed cavalry, they still cautiously adopted long-range attacks.
And after realizing that it was impossible to break through the large shield's defense head-on, the leader immediately issued a dispersal order. The men, who were divided into three groups, all faced the enemy from the side. They had large bows of more than two meters in hand and huge bows and arrows of nearly one meter. They staggered the friendly troops and formed multiple angles.
——Classic tactics.
When you have an absolute advantage in numbers and use mobile long-range firepower as the main force composition, facing a melee opponent with only a large shield as protection, you don't have to choose to rush in and risk your own casualties, but use The angle of firepower projection causes the opponent to be attacked from multiple directions at the same time, overwhelming them.
Quick response, easy to grasp, reliable and safe.
The combat prowess and experience of these people were to some extent even superior to the many Rigar warriors Henry and Mira had faced.
This is the elite of Kazuto, the aristocratic class of the Kingdom of the Moon that is equivalent to the elite knight class of the world of Rigal.
Swift and powerful, if the heavily armored knight class popular in the world of Rigar can be described as an emperor scorpion with both offense and defense - Kazuto's warrior is a mantis. Although the defense and attack power are lower than those of knights, they are still powerful. A little more agile and quick.
Like Abu Sera and other areas where horseback culture is popular, a mounted archery culture was born. However, unlike most areas, the mounted archery bows used are small in size for easy use on horseback. The large bows in the Moon Country are even larger than those in Wennei. The long bows drawn are even bigger.
Big means more powerful. Whether it is the penetrating ability against armor and shields or the lethality against living targets, it is not comparable to the light and small bow.
But big, too, means.
Fire rate is slower.
"Huh-dong!!" The sage raised his foot and directly kicked a big hole in the wall of the shrine.
Smoke and dust were flying, and a large piece of the shrine's outer wall, which was made of soil mixed with crude fiber, collapsed.
"Go in." He said concisely, and Aya's eyes almost widened when she saw the sage's brute force for the first time. Mira and Lulu pulled her in quickly, followed by Galeva, and when the last sage stepped back backwards, the warriors outside had just finished winding the string. He casually picked up the large shield dropped by Galeva and pulled it up to cover the punctured wall.
Without giving the warriors a chance to complete the encirclement, several of the frustrated opponents let go of their big bows and tried their luck to see if they could hit them in a cloud of dust.
"Seize! Seize!" The arrows fired one after another were all hit by the large shield. One shot hit the part that had been penetrated before, directly destroying the fragile structure and penetrating to a length of more than 30 centimeters. But despite the arrow that almost hit his throat, the sage remained calm.
"Foot?" Mira glanced at the foot that the sage used to kick the door. Obviously, this kind of rough behavior was not as easy for him as eating and drinking. The tough waxed linen threads on Henry's boots couldn't hold up and broke under the strong force, and now the sole part opened like a crocodile's mouth and separated from the shoe body.
"It's okay, it will be fine." The sage replied briefly, but the Luoan girl still squatted down and took out the gauze from the leather bag on her waist and packed it for her teacher to prevent the cracked soles from affecting her subsequent actions.
Henry let Mira handle the boots for him without looking. His hands were tied on top of the shield with the cloth from the shrine handed over by Lulu and Galeva, and fixed on both sides to ensure that it was tight. Cover the gapped part.
"What should I do at the front entrance?" Ling, who was hiding in the corner next to her, said this. Her tone was trembling and her lips turned white. She was obviously frightened. Unlike civilian houses, the three walls around the shrine are made of thick earthen walls mixed with rice straw in order to withstand the ornate and heavy decorative eaves. Sufficient to withstand weapons attacks. But the main entrance is a Moon Country-style wooden framed paper door. If the opponent uses a bow to shoot, it will shoot directly into the interior without any hindrance.
"The donation box at the door blocks a large part of the main entrance. Keep your body low and pin it up. The arrows they bring are also limited and will not be wasted." Henry remained calm and calm. Thinking from someone else's perspective is the most basic thing for a combat professional. Requirements: Only by knowing what the enemy will think and how will he act can we have a way to deal with it.
The sound of horse hooves "tap, tap, tap -" stirred the nerves of the group, but as the sage expected, they did not take action immediately after gathering at the main entrance of the shrine.
Because they are all experts, their action patterns are more predictable. They won't rush in like bandits and bandits screaming "wow" - although the latter will be easier to kill, because of this chaos and unpredictability, accidents are more likely to happen.
Silence lasted for several minutes. The sage saw through their plan to outflank and form multi-faceted firepower, and the way he immediately led people to break into the shrine to hide was beyond the expectations of these samurai. After all, even if it is not made of stone, it is thick and mixed with rice straw as fiber reinforcement. It also takes a long time to hammer with a pickaxe to break through.
However, the powerful power displayed by this sudden situation may scare away a second-rate player. Faced with a professional opponent who is bent on killing them, it will only attract further attention.
So for Henry and Mira, this is the worst move.
——The answer was given quickly, and as expected, the other party adopted a more conservative but more decisive approach.
"...It's not good." The sage sniffed his nose, then frowned. The smoky and burnt smells were immediately felt by others. Everyone immediately understood the plans of these warriors and their expressions changed.
"How is it possible? These guys don't care about being inferior, but they actually plan to destroy the shrine-" Aya's face turned green and white, even though there is no strict and fanatical obedience like the monotheistic world of Rigar, which is different from the four thousand years of culture. The gods of the Kingdom of the Moon, who are closely connected, are also existences with extremely noble status.
They are the history of this country, even more noble than the emperor of the Moon Country. Things like Henry's kicking through the wall are within the scope of repair, but if the fire continues like this, it will not only burn the shrine and their group, but also the thousands of years of accumulation in this area. culture.
"No, I have to stop them. How can we burn the shrine?" Aya was so anxious that she spoke in her mother tongue in the language of the Kingdom of the Moon. It was obvious that she cared more about the inheritance of knowledge than her own life. But Mira and Galeva held her back, because this was exactly what the warriors wanted to see. Once they rushed out, they would be shot to death by random arrows.
"Everywhere around is probably surrounded, what should I do, teacher." Although he verbally comforted Ling to calm down, even Mira herself became a little anxious in this situation.
They are at a disadvantage in this battle. This is a battle situation where the advantages of long-range weapons such as bows and arrows against melee weapons are undoubtedly obvious - exactly the same as on the battlefield in the world of Rigar. On the frontal battlefield, bows and arrows are fought on a small to legion scale. In this case, it is not used as a precision weapon to defeat the enemy with one blow. Instead, it is used as a strategic and tactical deterrent and coverage weapon.
It is very ineffective when facing targets wearing heavy armor. The heavily armored elites covered in armor, whether they are knights from Rigar or samurai from Crescent Continent, are fully capable of rushing forward to kill the archers despite the rain of arrows. But both Henry and Mira were just lightly-armed mercenary adventurers, wearing only torso armor, while the others didn't even have the most basic armor.
Even though Kazuto's large bow has a slow shooting speed, the war horses under them make up for this very well. It makes it difficult for swordsmen on foot to get close and buy time for them to open their bows and shoot arrows.
The light crossbows of the group were all hung on the little unicorn, and they were now separated and unable to get their hands on them. Although there was a bow in Lulu's hand, the warriors on the opposite side were not only riding horses but also wearing armor. It was difficult to aim while they were active, and the light long-range weapons used for hunting were not enough to penetrate their armor.
A bright flame gradually burned at the door, and there was not much time left to think.
"..." The sage silently glanced at the paper door that started to burn from the four corners, then looked at the money box outside that began to outline in the light of the flames, and looked back at Mira.
"You all squat down and get ready."
"When the opportunity comes, just run out through the hole in the back."
"......teacher."
"Yeah." Mira hesitated, and finally just nodded solemnly, knowing that she couldn't help. Although I was a little reluctant, I also understood that this was the most correct approach. Galeva looked dumbfounded beside him, and the Luoan girl sighed helplessly, and then explained it to the other three people.
And as soon as she finished speaking, the group suddenly saw veins popping up on the back of Henry's rough big hands that were pressed to the ground.
"Ahem." The runes on the sage's body lit up one after another, and he put Kramer back into the sheath on his back.
"Huh-" and then exhaled.
He stepped directly through the wooden floor.
"Bang -" The strong wind caused everyone to close their eyes unconsciously, and the flame at the door was even blown out.
"Bang!! - Bang!!" The fragile paper door was smashed directly through. Henry's hands were held on both sides of the huge money box made of thick mahogany and weighed hundreds of kilograms, and then "Crack -" With a sound, it was lifted up as easily as an empty crate.
"Clang, Dang, Dang -" The copper coins dropped by people praying in the box leaked out from the gaps and scattered all over the floor, and every step the sage took left a deep mark on the ground.
"Onika Knock Noya!!" The warriors who had been calm and calm finally started to panic at this moment. Because the number of people was small, in order to complete the blockade and ensure that everyone was killed, they surrounded the hut more than ten meters away. At this moment, the sage suddenly Those who rushed out had no time to react.
The war horses underneath them were panicked by the sudden huge movement. Several of them subconsciously opened their bows and nocked arrows to shoot powerful arrows. However, the sage noticed and immediately adjusted the angle of the huge wooden box.
"Take--take--take!" The thick wooden box blocked most of the arrows, and the only one shot from the side was bounced off after hitting the solid plate armor. Although the huge impact caused some bruises on Henry's body under the armor, it was not a problem for him.
"Nakanosaki (the ones inside will be dealt with first)!" The buffalo horn samurai led by him was worthy of being a leader. He immediately realized that this tall foreigner was using himself as bait. At this moment, without the cover of the big cabinet, they could easily Shoot those inside. But how could a sage give him this opportunity?
Henry, who had not activated the strengthening magic for a long time and pushed everything to the critical point, grabbed the corner of the money box with one hand and threw it directly in the direction of the samurai leader. The quick-reacting buffalo horn samurai immediately drove away from him, but beside him One of his subordinates was a beat slower.
"Wow -" The wooden cabinet weighing hundreds of kilograms directly knocked the samurai off his horse and crushed him to death on the spot. Even if he was wearing armor, it was meaningless in the face of absolute power. And that's not all, because this throwing attack was comparable to a battering ram, and everyone else also drove their horses to dodge, losing the chance to attack.
Chaos began to arise on the battlefield, the siege net was broken, and the warriors crowded together, and this was exactly Henry's purpose.
"..." Due to the side effects, his left hand was temporarily weak hanging by his side. As he ran, the sage drew out Claymore with his right hand. Holding the big sword with one hand, he rushed to the warrior closest to him with one step. In front of him, he swung a sword from bottom to top.
"Qiang——!" The head of the war horse and the big bow in the warrior's hand were chopped open in turn, and what was immediately blocked in front of the sword was the armored arm. The swift and powerful Claymer sword blade hit the Moon Kingdom-style strip armor. Although they tried their best to block it, they were still cut in half by the crushing hardness and sharpness, and the rest was also affected by the impact. distorted below.
The samurai's dominant right hand was cut with tendons and shattered. The forearm bones were thrown in the air like rags. He endured the pain and was about to use his left hand to draw out the short sword from his waist to attack the sage. However, he changed his stance and already struck out with a sword. The gap under the visor pierced the throat.
"Ahem -" "Chu -" After pulling out Claymore with blood, Henry still held the sword with one hand. He rushed decisively to the other side of the fallen horse, using the body of the horse to block the other side of the horse on the left. While shooting, the samurai used his left hand that finally regained consciousness to grab the dead samurai who fell from his horse. He directly lifted him up with his armor with one hand and blocked him on the other side.
"Seize Kaka——!" Two more bow arrows were fired, but they only hit the body of their dead comrade.
"Ha——!" Henry took a glance, held the warrior as a shield to the side with more people, and then ran towards the part with fewer people.
"Keep your distance!!" The leader of the horned warriors shouted loudly to remind the two people over there, but it was too late. Henry directly lifted Claymer up and then let go and slid to the blade, and then held the blade. He threw out the big sword in his hand.
"Boom!! Boom!!" The heavy and sharp sword successfully penetrated the warrior's armor, but the bow arrow fired by the other person's counterattack was once again deflected by the Brigand's armor.
"Ahem -" The warrior who fell from the horse fell to the ground and lost his voice. Another warrior faced the sage approaching at high speed and realized that the distance was not enough for him to draw his bow again, so he threw away the big gun in his hand. Gong drew out his long sword and rushed over on horseback.
"Suffer death! Southern barbarian bastard!" Shouting words of encouragement, he used a long two-handed sword with a very curved blade to chop at the sage's head. Henry still used the body of the dead warrior as a shield and drew it casually. With the dagger out of his waist, he easily blocked this heavy attack from top to bottom with one hand, relying on the momentum of the horse's impact.
"Dang!" "Clang——!" After the dagger blocked the attack, Henry deliberately deflected the blade, causing the warrior's whole body to be moved towards this side by his own strength, and he let go of the other hand. The death warrior who came to act as a shield got directly under the belly of the war horse. After running to the other side, he grabbed one of the panicked samurai's legs and pulled him off his horse.
"Ya!" The warrior roared and still planned to fight back. The sage threw him to the ground and cut his neck with a kick. Then he picked up the opponent's long knife, threw him back on the horse and slapped him hard. A horse's butt.
"Neighing!" The frightened horse began to run towards the other warriors, and the sage used the war horse as a moving shield and began to approach those people.
"Tap tap tap -" The warriors who heard the commotion from behind finally began to surround the front at this time, and after Mira listened carefully to the sound, she pulled out her dagger and cut the bundled strip of cloth and held it up carefully. Dardun looked outside and confirmed that they had left to support his teammates before calling on others to run out quickly.
"Ha-ha-" The four people, out of breath after running, secretly joined the little unicorn. Galeva lost the big shield in his hand, while Mira took it from the little unicorn. He unloaded the light crossbow and began to cock it.
"Go back and inform those three people that we should evacuate." She said to Galeva, the only young male at the moment.
"What about you?" The young porter looked a little worried.
"I have to go back and help the teacher." Mira said without raising her head. She quickly mounted two crossbows and inserted the spare crossbow bolts into the inside of her sword belt.
"But he seems to be able to handle it." Galeva was still hesitant.
"Have you forgotten what magic power fluctuations will cause?" Mira rolled her eyes at him. "Ah!" Galeva suddenly realized, but the Luoan girl no longer wanted to nag him anymore, she kicked him mercilessly and asked him to escort Ling and Lulu back to the mountain hut.
"Make a rope and evacuate?" Lulu said to the Luoan girl before leaving. There were a lot of ropes used as bow strings and multi-purpose reserves in the hut, as well as what they carried themselves. Although the terrain here is steep, it is still possible to evacuate by other means by hiding in the woods and using ropes.
"Yes." The Luoan girl nodded, then grabbed two light crossbows and ran towards the shrine again.
